


Why would you care?

by AnaVakarian



Series: Beyond reason [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, Awkward Flirting, Camaraderie, Denial of Feelings, Drinking & Talking, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Feelings, Flirting, Friendship, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22802152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaVakarian/pseuds/AnaVakarian
Summary: Ryder worries about Evfra. It's not a secret anymore. And the confession hits him like a wall of bricks.
Relationships: Evfra de Tershaav & Female Ryder | Sara, Evfra de Tershaav/Female Ryder | Sara, Evfra de Tershaav/Ryder
Series: Beyond reason [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639225
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	Why would you care?

Evfra’s expression gave away his annoyance when the door of his office hissed with the usual opening noise. The Angara raised his eyes from the datapad he had been staring at for the last fifteen minutes without reading a single word of the report shown. Obviously, the idea of having some time alone in the Resistance HQ had just gone to hell. A time he really needed to take in the recent discoverings the Pathfinder had made in the Remnant city.

“And speaking about the _skkuting_ devil…” he mumbled in a Milky Way copied expression, his impossible eyes going back to the datapad while pretending to ignore the red-headed human that had just entered the room with firm steps and a hypnotic swing of her hips.

“Good evening, sunshine,” she said, all cheerfulness and poisoning irony. Although the nickname made him grunt with annoyance, the fact that she had a bottle of _tavuum_ in her hand compensated for it just a bit. 

“Don’t you know how to knock?” he barked, giving her a frozen stare.

Sara Ryder smirked at his words while making her way into his very own office without permission and Evfra couldn’t do anything else but wonder where those early days when his mere presence was more than enough to intimidate her were.

The human dragged one of the chairs unhurriedly towards his desk and left the _tavuum_ there with a thump, completely ignoring his gruffiness. She took off her leather jacket and shoved it on the floor before sitting heavily, lifting her feet and resting them onto his table. Evfra’s upper lip curved into a snarl when she finally stared at him with her mesmerizing amber eyes, waiting. 

“What do you want, Ryder…?” Evfra breathed out on an even tone. He had grown well aware, after their many interactions, that the only being in Andromeda that could surpass his stubbornness was that orange-haired alien. Better to deal with her so he could go back to his meditations.

“I was just passing by after having this meeting with the Moshae... So I decided to visit you as well, you know? Have a little chat… A drink, perhaps…?” Her hands settled onto her lap, interlacing her fingers with an oddly suspicious smile.

Evfra narrowed his eyes and hardened his tone. “You’re lying.” Against all odds, he had gotten very good at reading her body language. Not that she was difficult, though: even with the lack of bioelectricity, the small modulations in her voice or the tiny changes on her facial expression gave her away with ease.

The Pathfinder scrunched her nose and sat up in the chair. “Well… this visit might have been a bit more planned than you think...” Even if her smile was still there, she was tense now. 

“Cut off, Ryder. Is this Sjefa’s or Jaal’s idea? I’m not an _ongaan_ that has to be looked after!” he interrupted, any softness forgotten. 

But the Pathfinder snapped at his outburst. “Ok, Evfra! I see there’s no place for fucking camaraderie, once again!” She made an annoyed gesture with her hands, losing her patience. “It is true that the Moshae and Jaal are worried about you after what we discovered in that Remnant city. Jaal has actually taken it in quite well, but we haven’t heard from you for a week. A. Fucking. Week. I am worried about you!” Ryder went mute after that last line and Evfra perceived some signs of embarrassment on the blush that crept up her cheeks and the way she leaned back on the chair, crossing her arms protectively.

Then, he processed the meaning of her words and the use of the pronouns. 

_She_ wasworried about him. _S_ _he._

The Angara remained quiet while mirroring her gesture, leaning back, genuinely bewildered. Although an odd warmness spread from his chest with her worrying. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had confessed being worried about him... 

_No._

He brushed the warmth off immediately, giving her a questioning glare. 

Ryder deep-breathed a couple of times before speaking again. Her next words were definitively contained. Soothing. “I just thought you could do with a friend. Have a drink, perhaps. The guy in the _tavetaan_ told me this is the good stuff. And your favourite, too. I hope it is, considering how much I paid for it...” Under his cold stare, she stood, refusing to give up yet. “Have you got cups anywhere?”

An inner wary voice warned him to kick her out of his office asap but, for some strange reason, his lips refused to form the words as his eyes kept staring. Dismissing her would have been a wise choice... “Through that door. Second cupboard on your left.” 

He glimpsed the thin triumphant smile on her lips before Ryder went to the other room to fetch the cups. Evfra sighed with resignation, grabbing the _tavuum_ bottle and leaning back on his chair, pensive. The barman hadn’t lied: it was his favourite, reserved for special occasions. And madly expensive. He opened the bottle without effort and put it back on the table, letting it breathe.

Jaal’s and Sjefa’s concern was not a surprise at all after the discovery, as they were close, although Ryder’s somehow was. The last thing he had ever expected was to have her in his empty office with a bottle of his favourite liquor, _worrying_ about him. 

They were not friends - why would he consider her one? - and their relationship had always moved onto a measured and distant professionalism after he was able to gulp down his untrust and even his disgust. But Evfra’s perception was slightly changing within the events: she was a skilled warrior; a stubborn fighter; a leader that worried about her people… He could empathize with all that: see himself reflected on her. Even if his first thought had been to kill her to keep his people safe, deep down, and considering the development of their fight, he was glad that he didn't.

And he had to admit she was becoming… difficult to ignore. 

Ryder strode back to him, putting both cups together next to the pile of datapads. “No rest for the wicked, I see…” she said with a crooked grin, jerking her head towards the gadgets. 

Evfra grunted in response, his translator struggling to provide an accurate meaning for her joke. “I’m going to think that you are talking about my workload and not about you might have called me _immorally attractive.._.”

The effect those words had on her were astonishing: even if Ryder held his stare with a proper _wicked_ smirk, her cheeks blushed deep red nearly immediately. “Yes, of course, I meant your bloody work... I had no clue that we were on those terms, Evfra… Joking and flirting...” she teased him.

He poured the clear-bluish liquid in the cups, delaying the answer, and pushed one towards Ryder who accepted it in her hand. “And we are not, Pathfinder," he stated with seriousness.

Still staring at him with the smirk on her red lips, she lifted her cup and drank it all up to the bottom as if it was a shot. 

“What are you doing?” Evfra asked, deep frowning in front of her grimace.

“I totally hate it. It’s too sweet. My taste buds get crazy…” she blurted out.

Evfra shook his head, having small sips of his cup, savouring the luxurious _tavuum_. “What a waste of money, you are.”

“Well, I’m really glad it’s my money, then. That means I get to waste it as I feel like. Actually, I might still change my mind and take the party somewhere else.” She poured herself another drink and topped his up distractedly.

The Angara studied her once again while she was focused on the task. Her orange hair cascaded around her face like a halo and countless small dots that the aliens called _freckles_ covered her face, the exposed part of her neck and her arms. Her looks were strange; exotic even for human standards, as he had gotten to learn. But what was truly engaging was her determination and her strength: she was a fighter, a survivor and a leader. 

Just as he was.

“Jaal seems to be quite composed… He’s seen this as an opportunity to prove himself further, even being genetically determined...” she began, pushing the topic that had kept him submerged in meditations during the last whole week.

“Nonsense.” A single sharp remark.

“Care to develop?” Ryder cocked an eyebrow, looking at him while Evfra occupied himself examining with raging attention the _tavuum_ at the bottom of his cup. 

A compassionate silence stretched in between them, gaining time to put his ideas together. Or considering the fact that Evfra hadn't shared any of his worries or feelings with anyone in years. He had not decided yet if he was comfortable or not with the idea but, if he was to share his thoughts with anyone in that _skkuting_ galaxy - which he would avoid with all his might and soul - he would rather do it with her. As an equal. 

“Genetics is not everything. We were created in a lab tube by the Jardaan and abandoned to our fates. But that doesn’t determine us. We grow, evolve and morphe according to our experiences. We are all different. Unique. And, most of all, we don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Nothing’s changed, Ryder.”

The Angara had spoken with determination. Even passion. Cups were empty and it was his turn to fill them up. 

The Pathfinder was probably surprised about how easily he had actually decided to carry on with the personal conversation: last time she asked him about himself, Evfra barked something about ‘not disclosing his personal profile’. She had never asked him again about his story, nor his scars, although Evfra had caught her roaming them with her eyes with curiosity. She had a thoughtful expression now. “We had this myth on Earth… Religious stuff. It basically says that we were created by an omnipotent being, designed according to its image… A curious myth, considering your circumstances…” 

“The truth is often stranger than fiction…” 

“True… Must be shocking, though. The discovery.”

Evfra deeply sighed: three glasses of _tavuum -_ and her presence - were more than enough to ramble on anything. His next sentence was the most angaran thing he would have probably said since he became who he was. “It feels empty, thinking of our origin… And it leaves so many questions… Why? What for?...”

Even if his expression and his tone were harsh, a softening in his bioelectricity gave away his anguish.

“Who knows, Evfra… But I guess we can discover it together… Your people and mine...” she offered. 

He raised his eyes from the cup to meet her warm amber ones. Suddenly, the world felt less empty. Less confusing. 

_Worried._

Her hand sneaked on the table towards his and Ryder held him with a gentle squeeze. Her skin felt soft, pliable and warm when he brushed the back of it with this calloused thumb.

Suddenly, he found himself craving for more contact. 

He should have stopped drinkinga while ago.

The Resistance leader jerked his hand back and cleared his throat, looking away, although he was able to discern briefly her confused expression at his sudden mood swift. “I’m sorry about my ramblings, Pathfinder. I must carry on with my work.”

Ryder seemed clearly disappointed at having her title and the distance back. “I was thinking that perhaps I would be able to take you out to the _tavetaan_ … The Moshae made me promise I would make sure you eat something…” she tried.

Evfra sighed, tempted. But he would not. He would not allow anyone that close again.

“Thank you, Pathfinder, but I’ll be fine. My people need me.”

That had been his excuse for many years. The excuse to keep everyone at arms-length. Evfra saw on her expression how she wanted to shake him, probably smack him and shout at his stupidity but, instead, she nodded politely and diplomatically. 

“As you wish, General. Although I’ll keep the bottle, if you don’t mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to leave kudos if you liked it. Or if you want more ❤❤❤  
> ***  
> Follow me on Tumblr  
> [AnaVakarian](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/anavakarian)


End file.
